When the telemetry was returned to Earth, Toby Owen, a member of the imaging team, found in frame 35A72, what appeared to be a mesa shaped like a human face.  His reaction was, "Gee whiz, isn't that weird."  

     Now, this is a subject that's very difficult to discuss with any degree of seriousness.  Usually when it's brought up, people tend to respond with chuckles or rolling eyes.  This is partially due to the fact that when this image is published, people usually see it like this:

     So the matter of investigating possible extraterrestrial artifacts is completely stripped of any credibility in the eyes of the general public, and the scientific community.  But in fact, the search for extraterrestrial life in the universe in general is not a stranger to mainstream science. 

     The multi-million dollar SETI investigation is based upon the belief that alien-human contact in some form is a real possibility.  But the method embraced by the SETI investigation is based on three assumptions.  First, that communication will be accomplished by means of radio waves.  Second, that communication, if any, will originate from deep space, not from within the solar system.  And third, that there are a sufficient number of advanced technological civilizations in the galaxy to warrant such a search in the first place.  

        Meteorite ALH84001 found in Antarctica in 1984, is believed by mainstream scientists to have been blasted from Mars by an impact about 16 million years ago.  

     The picture below is a high-resolution scanning electron microscope image that shows a tube-like object, which was found in this meteorite, and is highlighted below in red.  It's less than 1/100th the width of a human hair, and is believed by some NASA scientists to be fossilized evidence of primitive life that existed on Mars 3.6 billion years ago.   

     Less well known is the fact that a number of the tests carried out in 1976 by the Viking Landers actually proved positive for life.  The Martian samples did give positive results for metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and chemosynthesis, which are normally associated with life processes.  What is known as a gas-exchange experiment also produced a positive result with soil samples liberating substantial quantities of oxygen in response to treatment with an organic nutrient.  These results were written off as false positives.  

      The real question then, is why is the search for extraterrestrial microbes, or extraterrestrial radio signals, considered to be more scientific than the search for extraterrestrial artifacts?  

     Carl Sagan didn't seem to feel that way.  In fact, in 1962 during a speech he gave to the American Rocket Society, he stated, "Let's say that each of these civilizations sends out one interstellar expedition per year.  That means that every star, such as our Sun, would be visited at least once every million years.  In some systems where these beings found life, they would make more frequent visits.  There's a strong possibility, then that they visited Earth every few thousand years.  It is not out of the question that artifacts of these visits still exist or even that some kind of base is maintained, possibly automatically, within the solar system, to provide for successive expeditions."

     Now, if such a prominent member of the planetary science community was willing to ponder the possibility of such an idea, then why does The Face, and the possibilities of extraterrestrial artifacts on Mars, not get more attention by the rest of mainstream science?  Why would they choose to ignore or ridicule this image, and researchers and investigators who devote time to the subject?  A subject which, unlike lights in the sky or vague radio signals, is physical, and can be touched, photographed, tested.  

     Now, I don't want to dwell extensively on endless conspiracies here, but because of the nature of the subject I do think that this matter has to be briefly touched upon.  Primarily to answer the common assertion, that if something was there, then surely NASA would be overjoyed to announce it.

     The fact is, is that there is a very real motivation behind keeping such a discovery, secret.  There is a well-known government document, the existence and origin of which is not disputed by anyone, which puts a procedural mechanism into place to keep just such a thing secret.  

     The document pictured above, is a report written in 1960 titled, "Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs," popularly known as the Brookings Report.  Copies of this report can be found almost anywhere if you look, it's not hard to find.

     The report was prepared under contract to NASA by the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., and was also delivered to the 87th Congress.   In a section titled, "The implications of a discovery of extraterrestrial life," the report acknowledges the possibility that,  "artifacts left at some point in time by intelligent life forms might be discovered through our space activities on the Moon, Mars, or Venus."  The report also states, "It has been speculated that of all groups, scientists and engineers might be the most devastated by the discovery of relatively superior creatures, since these professions are most clearly associated with the mastery of nature, rather than with the understanding and expression of mankind.  Advanced understanding of nature might vitiate all our theories at the very least, if not also require a culture and perhaps a brain inaccessible to Earth scientists."   The report then goes on to recommend the investigation of the possible social consequences of an extraterrestrial intelligence discovery, and to consider whether such a discovery should be kept from the public in order to avoid political upheaval and a possible devastating effect on scientists themselves.   

     Also of note is the Space Act of 1958,

    In addition to the Brookings Report, in section 102 Paragraph (c), Sub-paragraph (a), of the Act of 29 July 1958 (Popularly known as the Space Act) which officially formed NASA, it states:

     "NASA is charged with the making available to agencies directly concerned with national defense of discoveries that have military value or significance...

      Information obtained or developed by the Administrator in the performance of his functions under this act shall be made available for public inspection except:

     a) Information authorized or required by Federal Statute to be withheld, and

      b) Information classified to protect the national security."

     So there is definitely a motivation and a procedural mechanism in place to keep such a discovery of extraterrestrial artifacts secret.  If what we're seeing, is what some people think we are seeing.  And that's what the remainder of this essay will focus on, of possible extraterrestrial artifacts. 

     As I said before, I want to talk mainly about the science end of this issue, and not dwell on the conspiracy side of it.   Those who find themselves interested in just what NASA and our government have been doing about this issue, can read the book, "The McDaniel Report" by Professor Stanley V. McDaniel.  

     Professor Stanley V. McDaniel is a Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and former Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Sonoma State University in northern California.  

     During his 30 years of teaching, in addition to classes in Logic, Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Philosophy of Science, he taught standing room only classes in Eastern Philosophy and Alternative World Views.  He was also known at Sonoma State University for his pioneering work on the philosophical implications of the theories of Carl Gustav Jung.  In "The McDaniel Report," he not only independently reviews the findings that I'll be showing you on his own, but also details the strange behavior of NASA and government when confronted by these images.